CALL FOR PROPOSALS IDEX 1 | SELECTION PHASE UNISTRA SUBMISSION FORM Acronym of the project UNISTRA Titre du projet en français Par-delà les frontières, l’Université de Strasbourg Project title in English Beyond frontiers, the University of Strasbourg Name : Alain Beretz, President Project manager Contact information: Guy-René Perrin, General Delegate Institution leading the Name : University of Strasbourg project (Project leader) Capital grant requested 1 246 M€ M€ (a) (a) See the document entitled « règlement relatif aux modalités d’attribution des aides au titre de l’appel à projets Initiatives d’excellence » (§ 4.1). Structure of the Idex partnership Higher education and Research institutes Other 1 research institutions University of Strasbourg CNRS Inserm 1 For instance : CHU, competitivity clusters, etc. 1/97 CALL FOR PROPOSALS IDEX 1 | SELECTION PHASE UNISTRA SUBMISSION FORM 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................ 3 1.1. The University of Strasbourg ............................................................................. 3 1.2. The Excellence initiative ................................................................................... 4 1.3. The reworked proposal ..................................................................................... 7 2. “D ELTA DOCUMENT ”: ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE JURY ........................................... 9 2.1. Recommendation n°1: Consider further possibilities for pedagogical innovations in teaching ...................................................................................................... 9 2.2. Recommendation n°2: Take into account benchmarking of international partners ........................................................................................................10 2.3. Recommendation n°3 “Develop further links to links to external including with the public sector” ...........................................................................................12 Recommendation n°8: “Consider ways of increasing contributions from research organizations and external partners” .................................................................12 2.4. Recommendation n°4: Continue consolidating the recently merged university ........14 2.5. Recommendation n°5: Clarify staffing and tasks of steering committee .................15 2.6. Recommendation n°6: Reflect on indicators for evaluation after three years ..........17 2.7. Recommendation n°7: Update resource allocation taking into account results of IA competition ...............................................................................................18 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT – SELECTION PHASE ......... 19 3.1. Ambition and strategy of the project .................................................................19 3.1.1 The University of Strasbourg, a multidisciplinary research university of excellence 19 3.1.2 Our Ambition: “Beyond frontiers” 20 3.1.3 Our Transformation model: a structural adjustment 21 3.2. Structure and characterization of the Initiative of Excellence ................................22 3.2.1 Presentation of the University of Strasbourg 22 3.2.2 Application to the actions of the programme « Investissements d’avenir » 35 3.2.3 Excellence perimeter, environment, prospects and added value 37 3.3. Project and prospects ......................................................................................40 3.3.1 Strategic priority n°1 – Surpassing research frontiers through attractiveness and interdisciplinarity 42 3.3.2 Strategic priority n°2 – Transcending education frontiers: excellence, innovation and outreach 48 3.3.3 Strategic priority n°3 – Breaking down frontiers between the academic and economics worlds 54 3.3.4 Strategic priority n°4 – Going beyond frontiers between sciences, culture and society 59 3.3.5 Strategic priority n°5 – Crossing a new frontier in university management 62 3.4. Governance, organisation and management .......................................................68 3.4.1 Objectives and guidelines 68 3.4.2 Governance organisation 68 3.4.3 Project organisation 72 3.5. Means ...........................................................................................................75 3.5.1 The LabEx projects of the University of Strasbourg 75 3.5.2 Other means for the strategic priorities of the IdEx 75 3.6. Human Resources ...........................................................................................79 4. KEY DATA AND FINANCIAL PLANNING ...................................... 80 GLOSSARY ........................................................................ 88 ANNEX ............................................................................ 90 2/97 CALL FOR PROPOSALS IDEX 1 | SELECTION PHASE UNISTRA SUBMISSION FORM 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1. THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG The University of Strasbourg was created by the successful merger of three universities in 2009. It was the first and, up to now, the only French university to have re-merged as a single entity. It provides a truly multidisciplinary identity for its more than 42,000 students. It is one of the most outstanding research universities in France and benefits from major * * investments of the National research organisations such as the CNRS and the Inserm . The main strength of the University of Strasbourg stems from its active involvement in virtually every scientific discipline. Many of its research teams have a worldwide reputation in domains such as Life Sciences and Health, Chemistry, Physics, Materials and Nano- sciences, Mathematics, etc., but also Social Sciences and Humanities. With some 2,400 permanent lecturers and researchers, the University of Strasbourg is, together with its partners, the first French university outside Paris in the 2010 Shanghai ranking and the first university in terms of its overall impact factor . It offers academic programs in all major scientific disciplines , with a particular focus on multidisciplinary approaches. Our university also has a strong commitment to technology and knowledge transfer , e.g. it ranks second nationally in lifelong learning, it was first in France to set up a “proof of concept” fund to facilitate transfer and has proactively fostered collaboration between public research and private R&D. It has strong relationships with partners in the business world: for instance it is a founding member of the international Biovalley cluster, one of the most important clusters in biotechnologies and health in Europe with more than 2,000 jobs and 45 companies created since 2005. Located on a historically tumultuous frontier, the university is at the heart of a European capital blending French and German cultural influences. Its history naturally ties it to the Upper Rhine region which concentrates a core academic potential in Europe with two universities of the German Exzellenzinitiative in Freiburg and Karlsruhe. It has significant international assets that demonstrate the attractiveness of its teaching and research activities. Internationalization is an integral part of its culture and nearly a second nature of the University of Strasbourg . It is a founding member of the League of European 2 Research Universities (LERU ). 12% of its lecturers and researchers are foreign nationals, and 20% of its graduate students come from abroad. * For all the acronyms, marked with a * symbol, see the glossary at the end of the document 2 Together with Oxford University, Cambridge University, Utrecht University, Munich University, Imperial College London, Zurich University… 3/97 CALL FOR PROPOSALS IDEX 1 | SELECTION PHASE UNISTRA SUBMISSION FORM 1.2. THE EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE THE AMBITION OF THE INITIATIVE Through its “Excellence Initiative”, the University of Strasbourg faces four key challenges: - strengthen its position as research intensive leader ; - reach the highest standards in education ; - further develop its international footprint ; - be a committed actor open to society . Through its historic development since 1621 and in the recent past, the University of Strasbourg has shown its capacity to adapt to changing conditions: in 2009, it made its mark on the French academic landscape with the merger of the three Strasbourg universities and has been a precursor in the transformation of the French university system. In many issues (excellence in science, continuing education, technology transfer, governance…) it is a step ahead in France and it has now the ambition to become an innovative leader in Europe : it aims at being positioned among the 20 leading European universities in most international rankings and to strengthen its attractiveness and its international dimension. It aspires to play a leading role in French-German cooperation , particularly through close partnerships with neighbouring universities in the Upper Rhine region. The successful merger of 2009 has empowered the university with a robust governance culture to pursue its transformation and improve the fulfilment of its missions. In this sense the University of Strasbourg is well equipped to meet the stringent criteria of the “Excellence Initiatives” framework and has a credible position to build its strategic project and achieve its objectives. * * The applications of the university to the “Investissements d’avenir” calls (EquipEx , LabEx , * * IHU , SATT …) rely on an overall multidisciplinary strategy involving research, education, technology transfer and international attractiveness. The IdEx project